Harry Potter and the Unrelenting Darkness
by Vanadoss
Summary: IN the beginning of Harry's 6th year he is haunted by dreams in which Cho is running away from a stalking evil. is this Voldemort's plan?! Read and review and you'll find out more!


He lay there, transfixed on the same spot of ceiling. that dream again... He'd been having it every night for the last fortnight and he'd lost so much sleep over it you could pack your clothes in the bags under his eyes. Its was Cho, was something happening to her? or was it going to happen soon? this wasn't like the other dreams he had. They were darker. The ones he was having were better than those but they still hid a sense of foreboding behind them.  
  
He saw her flying, every night in his dreams. but each time it was clearer, it went for longer no matter how hard he wanted to wake up. He only knew one thing from the dream, she was crying. He couldn't hear her, only the tears leaving her face only told him that. She sped up as she flew, tensed and not looking back. then she screamed and Harry woke up each time. The screams were getting longer though, and they hovered in his mind for hours afterwards. That piercing scream, it's all he ever heard in the dream and somehow he felt that if he actually heard it he would feel a thousand times worse  
  
A cold sweat covered his forehead, was this happening? was it going to happen? Is this Voldemort's newest plan? In truth, Harry wasn't going out with Cho anymore, but he'd had Cho in his dreams a lot longer than these ominous ones had started. This was definitely a weak spot for Harry, he couldn't change how he felt for her, not now anyway and if Voldemort somehow got to Cho, he didn't know what he could do to help her.  
  
Then he remembered, it was finally here, the day he returned to school, to Hogwarts. The scream still bounced around in his head as he gathered his things. He knew how he was getting to school, the Knight Bus. it was 4 in the morning and the Dursleys knew he was leaving that day. They had a celebration feast the night before to commemorate the departure of their nephew. Harry wasn't invited and was forced to listen from his bedroom as they gobbled down the 3 course meal and double servings of desserts. That didn't bother Harry, he knew that in less than 12 hours he would be on his way to Kings Cross station with his books, clothes, cauldron and other belongings on the Knight Bus. Hedwig had flown ahead and was likely to already be at Hogwarts, so Harry was carrying an empty cage.  
  
He stood on the curb or Privet Drive. He knew the Knight bus was coming, he'd ordered a timetable (which hadn't been much help as the Knight bus moves randomly through England) and then had made reservations for them to pick him up at this exact time and place. He put his wand up and whispered "lumos". Out of nowhere appeared the Knight Bus, with the grinning Stan at the door.  
  
"'allo 'arry! Nice ter see you again. 'member the las' time you traveled with us? Sorry for the bumpy ride we gave yer last time bu' it should be better this time."  
  
Harry didn't say anything, only handed his money to Stan and sat down on the closest unoccupied bed. Stan followed him and stood, staring at the scar on Harry's forehead. Harry avoided his gaze awkwardly.  
  
"Well? Are we going or not? I've paid you so let's go." Harry said harshly.  
  
Stan gathered himself, it was like he came out of a trance. Harry knew his scar had that effect on some people, but it still bothered him that some people only cared about him for his birth, and not for his actions after it. Stan stared at him, wide eyed, then turned on his heels and headed to the front of the bus. The bus started moving again, moving towards house that magically leapt out of the way.  
  
Stan called back to him, "yer'll have to wait a while 'arry, we do a student pick up run on the first day o' school, so it'll probably be about 2 and a 'arf hours till we get to the station. This bus is going to get busy so i'd recommend you go as far back as yer can if you wan' to get some shut eye."  
  
Harry groaned, "how many people will be catching this Stan?"  
  
"Oh about one hundred and fifty students, yer pretty lucky yer booked in so early, otherwise you'd never get to sleep"  
  
"What!? How can so many people fit in one bus?" Harry asked but then realized the answer. He remembered Mr. Weasley's car, the one that now ran rampant in the forbidden forest. It had been magically enlarged to fit the entire Weasley family and Harry inside.  
  
"Well 'arry it's magica--" Stan began but Harry cut him off.  
  
"Never mind Stan, how many beds does this bus have?"  
  
"As many as yer want"  
  
"How can I get to the farthest bed from the entrance as soon as possible?" asked Harry, now annoyed that he had to spend so much time asking questions to Stan, whose eyes kept darting to his scar every time he spoke.  
  
"Oh umm... Ern? Should we tell 'im? we don' normally tell people... none o the students know bu' can we just tell young 'arry 'ere?"  
  
"Oh alright Stan if yer want, but only cos of who he is. An 'arry, you can't tell anyone either, it's a secret and we're only telling you cos o what you did, you know, with you-know-who. The daily prophet says 'e's back, so you gotta be kept safe, and the back o' the bus'll do exactly that."  
  
"Alright, alright Ernie, I get the picture" Harry said sarcastically, getting frustrated "So HOW do I get there Stan?"  
  
"Oh that's simple 'arry, see that bed over there? The fourth one back?" said Stan, pointing over Harry's shoulder.  
  
Harry turned around. The bed looked like every other bed, it had 2 mattresses, a blue woolen blanket with satin edges and 2 fluffy navy blue pillows.  
  
"Yeah..." Harry replied uncertainly.  
  
"Well alls you gotta do Harry is life up the top mattress, slide yerself underneath and then drop the top mattress on top of yourself."  
  
"What?! Won't that hurt?"  
  
"Nah of course not, we wouldn't want to hurt you 'arry, it sends you right to the back of the bus, and to get back all you gotta do is the same thing from the other end. Make sure you use the red bed to port, and not the blue one. But we can't come and get you 'arry, cos it's a duo-port."  
  
"what's that?" replied Harry  
  
"Well you have to use it twice before someone else can. Old Fudge set it up like that, so one of us would have to be at the front of the bus at the time, cos we'd just magically set the bus on course and go sleep at the back, but the bus broke down while we was back there an' it were 2 hours before we even realized. Also for safety reasons, cos you can't jus' walk ter the back o the bus, the beds only keep goin' if the ones in front o them are occupied."  
  
"Oh okay, so I'll have to wake myself up when I have to get off."  
  
"Yup, that's right 'arry, so off yer go, we'll see yer later." said Stan, in his cheerful tone.  
  
Harry walked over to the bed, and did as Stan had said. He slid himself underneath, placed his belongings on the bed beside him and dropped the mattress on his face.  
  
Expecting a mattress to hit him in the face he opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of the bus moving away from him. Wait... the mattress had been in front of him... hadn't it? Then a split second later he realized he was falling downwards and then he hit the bed.  
  
He jerked himself upwards and looked around. The bed was in the center of the moving bus, it was red, unlike all the other blue beds on the bus. He looked up the center of the bus, but all he could see were beds, stretching into the distance. He sat on the red bed. No one could reach him here, no one would come to stare at him or ask him questions, and he was only a few hours away from his sanctuary, the school of Hogwarts. He stared out the window.  
  
Then suddenly something flashed. Was it out there? No it wasn't... it was his reflection in the mirror! He looked at himself, then a sharp pain shot through his scar, not like normal but different. It felt as if the skin was burning away. He clapped his hand to his forehead, trying to stop the burning. His hand touched something wet and hot. he brought it down so he could see. It was green. he looked at his reflection. He had panic all over his face, he was alone here, and the pain was excruciating. He wiped at the liquid on his forehead, what was it?! he looked at himself again in the mirror, his face had paled and the liquid was still there, and then Harry passed out on the bed and no one could come to help him. "Oh about one hundred and fifty students, yer pretty lucky yer booked in so early, otherwise you'd never get to sleep"  
  
"What!? How can so many people fit in one bus?" Harry asked but then realised the answer. He remembered Mr. Weasley's car, the one that now ran rampant in the forbidden forest. It had been magically enlarged to fit the entire Weasley family and Harry inside.  
  
"Well 'arry it's magica--" Stan began but Harry cut him off.  
  
"Never mind Stan, how many beds does this bus have?"  
  
"As many as yer want"  
  
"How can i get to the farthest bed from the entrance as soon as possible?" asked Harry, now annoyed that he had to spend so much time asking questions to Stan, whose eyes kept darting to his scar every time he spoke.  
  
"Oh umm... Ern? Should we tell 'im? we don' normally tell people... none o the students know bu' can we just tell young 'arry 'ere?"  
  
"Oh alright Stan if yer want, but only cos of who he is. An 'arry, you can't tell anyone either, it's a secret and we're only telling you cos o what you did, you know, with you-know-who. The daily prophet says 'e's back, so you gotta be kept safe, and the back o' the bus'll do exactly that."  
  
"Alright, alright Ernie, i get the picture" Harry said sarcastically, getting frustrated "So HOW do i get there Stan?"  
  
"Oh that's simple 'arry, see that bed over there? The fourth one back?" said STan, pointing over Harry's shoulder.  
  
Harry turned around. The bed looked like every other bed, it had 2 matresses, a blue woolen blanket with satin edges and 2 fluffy navy blue pillows.  
  
"Yeah..." Harry replied uncertainly.  
  
"Well alls you gotta do Harry is life up the top matress, slide yerself underneath and then drop the top matress on top of yourself."  
  
"What?! Won't that hurt?"  
  
"Nah of course not, we wouldn't want to hurt you 'arry, it sends you right to the back of the bus, and to get back all you gotta do is the same thing from the other end. Make sure you use the red bed to port, and not the blue one. But we can't come and get you 'arry, cos it's a duo-port."  
  
"what's that?" replied Harry  
  
"Well you have to use it twice before someone else can. Old Fudge set it up like that, so one of us would have to be at the front of the bus at the time, cos we'd just magically set the bus on course and go sleep at the back, but the bus broke down while we was back there an' it were 2 hours before we even realised. Also for safety reasons, cos you can't jus' walk ter the back o the bus, the beds only keep goin' if the ones in front o them are occupied."  
  
"Oh okay, so I'll have to wake myself up when i have to get off."  
  
"Yup, that's right 'arry, so off yer go, we'll see yer later." said Stan, in his cheerful tone.  
  
Harry walked over to the bed, and did as Stan had said. He slid himself underneath, placed his belongings on the bed beside him and dropped the matress on his face.  
  
Expecting a matress to hit him in the face he opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of the bus moving away from him. Wait... the matress had been in front of him... hadn't it? Then a split second later he realised he was falling downwards and then he hit the bed.  
  
He jerked himself upwards and looked around. The bed was in the center of the moving bus, it was red, unlike all the other blue beds on the bus. He looked up the center of the bus, but all he could see were beds, stretching into the distance. He sat on the red bed. No one could reach him here, no one would come to stare at him or ask him questions, and he was only a few hours away from his sanctuary, the school of Hogwarts. He stared out the window.  
  
Then suddenly something flashed. Was it out there? No it wasn't... it was his reflection in the mirror! He looked at himself, then a sharp pain shot through his scar, not like normal but different. It felt as if the skin was burning away. He clapped his hand to his forehead, trying to stop the burning. His hand touched something wet and hot. he brought it down so he could see. It was green. he looked at his reflection. He had panic all over his face, he was alone here, and the pain was excruciating. He wiped at the liquid on his forehead, what was it?! he looked at himself again in the mirror, his face had paled and the liquid was still there, and then Harry passed out on the bed and no one could come to help him. 


End file.
